Review by John Delia
Very compelling, the movie Browse takes you into the world of a guy who looks for love on an online dating site and ends up facing the fury of a woman and puts his job in doubt. Although it’s a nicely produced and directed film, the movie tends to give off the vibes of déjà vu. I did like the acting by Lukas Haas as the victim and Sara Rafferty of his office assistant who both find themselves involved with each other. The film does get out of hand a bit, tries to make some twists that are predicable, but recovers well from both flaws just in time for the finale.
It’s a day as usual for Richard Coleman (Lukas Haas) who lives on a high floor one bedroom in the O Town House in LA. Getting to work has been a problem with late attendance making his boss Daniel (Ken Kirby) skeptical of his top manager at BLP Dynamics. Claire (Sarah Rafferty), the office secretary/receptionist, has been his confident and offers information that keeps Richard aware of management things and scuttlebutt. But, this day is not an ordinary one as Daniel has told Richard that they are downsizing and he must let three of his staff go. Not the kind of guy who wants this to happen to his loyal workers, he asks Daniel for some time to get him a list.
Today he gets his first ping on his cell from his new dating site Meet Market. It’s from a woman named Veronica (Chloe Bridges) who lives in the next building. Gorgeous from her photos and a video and seemingly not carrying a lot of “baggage†he replies to her. The two seem to hit it off well and communicate for a couple of days until he gets a visit from the police who tell him he is stalking Veronica. Director Mike Testin moves his film along at a nice pace showing Richard’s problems at the office expanding with a new man observing him while he works, the Veronica situation getting more prominent, his ex-wife Roxy Castillo (Jocelin Donahue) clouding his mind with matters, the hooker upstairs playing tricks with her website videos and an order from Daniel that Claire must be one of the people he needs to fire.
I do like the interaction between all the characters as the story plays out and becomes more of a mystery. As Richard falls deeper into an abyss, there doesn’t seem any way he’s going to pull out of it, except with a bullet from a gun that was sent to him in package. His actors are very good, especially those involved directly in Richard’s life on the edge. Mike Testin is no newbie to psychological drama and he puts his audience through some very suspicious and mind altering scenes before taking them into the last act.
Of the main cast, well known actor Lukas Haas is perfectly cast for Richard the guy who finds himself in a quandary. He’s dumbfounded over what is happening to him, but won’t stop investigating as to why he has been targeted. As more characters enter his life, Haas’s Richard deals with them as the audience watches the hole he is digging getting deeper and wider. Haas has amassed over 90 credits since his start in 1983 as Samuel a youngster who sees a murder in the crime drama Witness, as Nash in Inception and more recently James Thomas in Transcendence.
Browse has not been rated by the MPAA but contains sex, language, smoking, and some drug use.
FINAL ANALYSIS: A good film for a relaxing night with a beverage. (3 out of 5 Stars)
Additional Film Information:
Cast: Lukas Haas, Chloe Bridges, Sarah Rafferty, Bodhi Elfman, and Jocelin Donahue
Directed by: Mike Testin
Genre: Thriller, Suspense
MPAA Rating: Not Rated, sex, language, drug use
Running Time: 1 hr. 24 min.
Opening Date: July 7, 2020
Distributed by: FilmRise
Released in: VOD